The second we reached the mansion gates, I was already halfway out the SUV door.“Move!” I barked, barely waiting for the car to stop before I leapt out with Emily cradled in my arms.The warmth of the mansion lights spilled across the driveway, but it didn’t touch the cold I felt seeping from her skin. My hoodie and the blankets barely helped. She was still trembling, unconscious—her breath shallow, her cheeks too pale.“Doctor’s already inside,” Carter said, holding the door open as I burst through. “We called ahead. Your room’s been prepped.”Good.I didn’t slow. My boots thundered down the hallways like war drums, my fury and fear twin monsters clawing at my chest. Every second that passed, every breath she didn’t take with her eyes open, felt like a knife twisting deeper.She should’ve never had to go through that.She should’ve never had to run.This was on me.The guilt was suffocating—but I didn’t have time to drown in it.Not yet.“Upstairs. Now.” I snapped at the two guards
"Fan out!" I barked, already storming off the porch. "They couldn't have gotten far. Spread out and find her—now!"My voice sliced through the night, sharp and unrelenting. My men moved like shadows, melting into the forest with practiced ease. Guns drawn. Eyes alert. Every footfall calculated.But I wasn’t waiting.I didn’t have the luxury of calm.My boots crushed wet leaves and branches as I pushed into the trees, lungs pumping with fury and fear in equal measure. My heart was a war drum, hammering a rhythm that screamed her name over and over again.Emily.She’d been here. The food was still warm. The glass half full. She’d just been here—and now she was gone.I would never forgive myself if I didn’t find her.Not just for failing her—but for not getting there sooner. For letting her out of my sight. A cold wind tore through the trees, but the sweat down my back was hot—fired by rage.A scream shattered the silence.High-pitched. Terrified.“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" My blood froze.
The woods were endless.Dark. Dense. Silent—except for the sound of snapping branches beneath our feet and the heavy breaths I tried to smother inside my chest.“Move,” Liam growled, shoving me forward with a hand that no longer pretended to be gentle. “Faster.”I stumbled, the uneven forest floor catching my foot, but I didn’t fall. I couldn’t afford to. Not when I didn’t know what the hell was waiting ahead—or worse, behind.He’d found the phone.Of course he had.He wasn’t as stupid as I’d hoped.The second he spotted it under the pillow, his entire face had shifted. The tenderness cracked. Something wild and venomous spilled into his eyes, and I knew—I knew—the man I once loved was completely gone.“You called someone,” he’d hissed, his voice trembling not with sadness, but rage. “You lied to me.”I hadn’t denied it. What was the point?So now, here we were. In the goddamn woods, the cabin behind us, swallowed by the night—and me, stumbling through roots and mud with Liam marching
"Track the call. Now."My voice cracked like a whip, sharp and final. My men didn’t ask questions. They didn’t need to. The moment they heard Emily’s voice on the line, everything changed.Vincent was already on it, fingers flying across the keyboard as the data started to pour in. Carter stood beside me, jaw tight, eyes locked on the screen as if sheer willpower would make the dots align faster. Every second felt like a punch to the gut, like I was watching the clock tick down on a bomb I couldn’t defuse."We’re getting pings," Vincent muttered. "Call signal bounced off a nearby tower. Location’s rural—real isolated."I leaned over his shoulder, scanning the map. Just trees. Endless goddamn trees. A single dot blinking on a winding dirt road like a ghost signal in the middle of nowhere."It’s not exact yet," Vincent added. "Might take another few minutes to triangulate.""We don’t have a few minutes," I growled.My hand curled into a fist at my side. I could still hear her voice in m
The silence pressed down on me like a weight I couldn’t shake.I sat on the edge of the bed, knees pulled up to my chest, eyes locked on the door Liam had just walked away from. He hadn’t left the room. He was still there—sitting in that damn armchair, watching me like some guardian of a twisted fairytale where I was both the princess and the prisoner.My whole body was tense, coiled tight like a spring. Every second that passed fed the wildfire of panic crawling beneath my skin. My mind screamed at me to move, to think, to fight—but I couldn’t. Not yet.And the worst part?I was so damn tired.So tired I could feel it in my bones. My head was spinning, vision slightly blurred, and my limbs felt heavier with every breath.What the hell had he given me?Whatever it was, it was still coursing through my system, and it was dragging me under like a riptide I couldn’t swim against.But I refused to sleep.Not in this place. Not with him lurking just a few feet away. I didn’t care how heavy
The USB stick burned in my pocket as I stalked out of the shop like a man possessed.Emily was gone.Stolen from me. And no one—not a single goddamn soul—had stopped it.I stormed across the square, nearly shoving people out of my way. I didn’t care. Let them stare. Let them wonder. My world was collapsing around me, and the only thing holding me together was rage."Where the hell are they?" I barked, yanking my phone out and dialing Carter's number.He answered on the first ring.“Boss?”“I need men here,” I snapped. “Now. Bring the local team. Bring whoever you can. I don’t care how far they are—get them here.”“Understood.”I hung up before he could ask why. I didn’t have time to explain. Not when every second that ticked by meant she was further away from me.Emily.God, Emily.My chest felt like it was caving in.How the hell had I let this happen?I stood at the edge of the dock, breathing hard, fists clenched at my sides. The ocean stretched out before me, vast and glittering